One stormy June evening, five friends meet at Villa Diodati, the summer home of Lord Byron. After dinner is served, they challenge each other to tell ghost stories that will freeze the blood. But one of the guests--Mary Shelley--is stuck for a story to share. Then there's an unexpected knock at the front door. Collapsed on the doorstep is a girl with strange scars on her face. She has traveled a long way with her own tale to tell, and now they all must listen. Hers is no ordinary ghost story, though. What starts as a simple tale of village life soon turns to tragedy and the darkest, most dangerous of secrets. Sometimes the truth is far more terrifying than fiction . . . and the consequences are even more devastating. -- Provided by publisher.

A tale to freeze the blood : Lake Geneva, Switzerland, June 1816 --Lizzie's tale : Sweepfield, Somersetshire, December 1815-May 1816 -- Ideas set free : Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva, June 1816 -- Epilogue : London, January 1818.